Pakistan and China are in advanced discussions to establish a new regional organisation aimed at enhancing connectivity and integration in South Asia — a move that could potentially replace the long-dormant SAARC, according to a report by The Express Tribune.
Quoting diplomatic sources, the report states that both Islamabad and Beijing believe SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) has become ineffective, largely due to the prolonged India-Pakistan standoff, and that a new, more functional platform is necessary.
A New Bloc in the Making?
Sources said the proposed grouping could include countries currently part of SAARC, such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan, and even India might be invited. The aim is to focus on regional trade, connectivity, and cooperation, leaving behind political deadlocks.
A recent trilateral meeting between Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh in Kunming, China, is being seen as part of early diplomatic efforts. However, Bangladesh has publicly downplayed any notion of forming a new alliance.
“We are not forming any alliance,” Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain clarified, adding that the Kunming meeting was not political.
Why Replace SAARC?
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — which includes India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka — has been largely inactive for nearly a decade. The last SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu in 2014.
The 2016 summit, scheduled in Islamabad, was cancelled after India withdrew in the wake of the Uri terror attack, and other countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Afghanistan followed suit. Since then, no SAARC summits have taken place.
Strategic Implications
If realised, this new organisation could shift the regional power balance, giving China greater influence in South Asia. It also underscores growing Pakistan-China strategic cooperation, particularly in the context of India’s increasingly independent and assertive foreign policy.
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